I am quite lucky to see what transpired a couple nights ago when Novak Djokovic made quick work of Radek Stephanek. He acknowledged the crowd for their support and soon after called out John McEnroe, asking to him to play some balls with him. McEnroe soon agreed and as he was making his way down from the press box, Djokovic did an impersonation of McEnroe.
The importance of all of this is that Djokovic and McEnroe are giving the fans a “show” in appreciation of their devotion to tennis. Truly, it is the fans that help these players make the millions of dollars and without them in the stands, they would not be where they are today. Both Djokovic and the oldtimer, “Johnny Mac” recognize this. If we only had more professional athletes follow in their footsteps, the world of sports might be just a tad bit better don’t you think?
Without futher adieu, I present you the events that unraveled Monday night, September 7th, 2009:
Summer has begun and you know what that means right? All the major sports (basketball, football) are on hiatus. Even hockey playoffs are done. It leaves us with the great American pastime, baseball. Personally, I enjoy parts of baseball, but dang, 162 games not including playoffs in 7 month span is ridiculous. Maybe that’s what summer in SoCal is all about: the beach, surfing, bbqing and chilling out. If you got nothing to do over there (aka rest of the nation), come by Cali! (My little plug to help the local economy).
On a different note, congratulations to US soccer for shocking the world and almost winning a international competition. Clint Dempsey, Jozy Altidore and Landon Donovan should be a force the rest of the way.
Now to enjoy some tea at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club where Roger Federer can make history by breaking Pete Sampras’s record. Also, the William sisters never go away which makes them interesting.
Before I go, here’s a little video treat for those long summer nights:
What a treat last weekend was! If you were not on your couch and in front of the TV watching sports, then you missed out on a whole lot. Lucky for you, I’ll give you a couple of snippets of the spectacular, a view of a champion’s heart:
Tony Stewart: Though I don’t care much for NASCAR racing except when they race in Sonoma (with its non-oval track), I have to admit that Tony pulled out an exciting victory. To race from worst to first is a splendid feat. He got himself into this position by crashing his car in practice a couple days earlier. That meant he had to use a new car and start from the back of the pack. No matter, a will to win will always get you there.
Tiger Woods: When its Sunday on the golf course, you can never count Tiger out. Its actually when he plays his best, especially when he’s coming from behind! Its like an extra feline sense, Tiger’s sixth sense so to speak. He’s on the prowl on the fairways and pounces you on the greens. If you thought surgery could keep him down, then you are surely mistaken.
Roger Federer: With Rafa (Rafael Nadal) out of the Roland Garros, the door was open for Roger to finally capture the French Open. Many people in this position would have choked under the weight of such a great opportunity. However like a true champion, he fought through the tournament with his power serves and solidly hit, spot-on forehands. There were tough matches, but the gusto to glide on red clay with zest is what makes Roger so great.
Lakers: So Kobe was a bit disappointing in the fourth quarter in game 2 of the NBA Finals, it does not mean disaster when you have teammates like Derek Fisher, Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. They picked up his so-called slack, if you call 29 points, 8 assists and 4 rebounds slacking off. Whatever the game and whatever the case, the Lakers will pull it out even if drama is on display. When Courtney Lee of the Magic missed the game-winning layup at the end of regulation, the Lakers went to work and showed how it is to finish off the game in overtime. Pau did the scoring in overtime, Lamar kept them alive in regulation and Derek practically sealed the deal with his steal at the end. Lakers should and can win in any situation. The “ring” is near!
Aside: Have you checked out the latest Kobe Bryant song by Lil Wayne? If not, here it is, a heart of a champion:
